--- title: How to Prevent Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia description: Some effective ways of preventing dementia don’t involve high-tech or expensive strategies canonical: https://time.com/4866813/prevent-dementia-alzheimers-disease/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-20T17:23:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:24:22.404Z article:section: Health og:title: Doctors Say a Third of Dementia Cases Could be Prevented og:description: Some effective ways of preventing dementia don’t involve high-tech or expensive strategies og:url: https://time.com/4866813/prevent-dementia-alzheimers-disease/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Doctors Say a Third of Dementia Cases Could be Prevented twitter:description: Some effective ways of preventing dementia don’t involve high-tech or expensive strategies twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Doctors Say a Third of Dementia Cases Could be Prevented > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=4f8d248c-70bd-4b8a-9ba6-e50b8e9d67e2&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Financial Toll of Dementia [Watch (HLS stream): The Financial Toll of Dementia](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/25H9CQC9.m3u8) (3:15)  _Published 2015-12-09. MONEY writer Donna Rosato highlights some of the discoveries she made while covering the financial impacts of dementia._  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jul 20, 2017 5:23 PM UTC  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Jul 20, 2017 5:23 PM UTC Dementia, which includes Alzheimer’s disease, is one of biggest health concerns for aging people. Health officials estimate that 47 million people around the world currently live with dementia; triple that number might be affected by 2050. For any condition—including dementia—any ways to prevent it before it can cause symptoms or damage is the most reliable way to control it. And that prevention doesn’t always have to come in the form of a pill, vaccine or liquid drug. In a [report published in the journal _Lancet_](http://www.thelancet.com/commissions/dementia-2017), researchers say that one in three cases of dementia might be prevented if people start practicing good health habits beginning in childhood. The group of 24 experts reviewed all of the available data carefully and found that a third of dementia cases could be avoided. They identified nine key factors to preventing brain decline, including getting a consistent education, avoiding smoking and keeping blood pressure and obesity under control. **MORE**: [Untangling Alzheimer’s: Simple Lifestyle Changes May Prevent Cognitive Decline](http://time.com/4447997/untangling-alzheimers/?iid=sr-link4) Focusing on factors that can prevent dementia is an exciting strategy for brain researchers, especially when it comes to Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia linked to the buildup of amyloid protein plaques in the brain. At the recent Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, researchers presented data involving a broader range of potential factors that could prevent Alzheimer’s, such as strong social connections and intellectually stimulating brain activities, as well as [exercise](http://time.com/4833348/exercise-genetic-risk-alzheimers-disease/) and [healthy diets](http://time.com/2982908/to-prevent-alzheimers-diet-and-exercise-are-effective-large-study-shows/). Those studies, conducted in thousands of people around the world, confirmed that combining many of these factors could have a stronger effect in preventing Alzheimer’s. **MORE:** [Alzheimer’s from a New Angle](http://time.com/4217067/alzheimers-from-a-new-angle/) The fact that lifestyle behaviors can have such a strong role in preventing dementia and Alzheimer’s is good news, say experts. “\[These\] findings are extremely hopeful,” Maria Carillo, chief science officer at the Alzheimer’s Association, said in a statement. “At an individual level, many people have the potential to reduce their risk of cognitive decline, and perhaps dementia, through simple, healthful behavior changes. At a public level, interventions based on this evidence could be extremely powerful in managing the global human and economic costs of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Caring for relatives with dementia is an agonizing and often very expensive trauma for families. Money Magazine write Donna Rosato has spent the last three months covering this story for the December issue. Donna, my first question is What's the difference between dementia and Alzheimer's? We seem to hear more about Alzheimer's than dementia. Alzheimer's is just the most common form of dementia. There's a number of different kinds. But you hear about Alzheimer's so much cuz that is the most common form that people have. And it affects so many families. I'm just wondering, what is the advice that you found that families can really think about before you get a diagnosis? How can we prepare for something like this? I think the most important thing for families to know is that Medicare, which is the primary health insurance for people over 65 Does not cover any of the long- term care that a disease like dementia requires. One of the stats that we found that was just really difficult for caregivers to understand is that the out- of- pocket costs for someone to care for someone with dementia is over $ 80, 000 For somebody with cancer or heart disease it's half that. Wow. And you are paying for that out of pocket. And how difficult is this to diagnose? My grandfather had Alzheimer's. It seemed to take a while for them to come to that conclusion, even though we saw signs earlier. One of the things that is the first things to go though is financial management skills. You see people having difficulty just paying their bills. It could be bouncing checks. Unfortunately, a lot of folks kind of start developing poor judgement. And you see a lot of people with dementia doing things like giving a lot of money to charity, or even being victims of scams. If you're a family member and maybe your parents don't like talking about money so much, cuz it's maybe a generational difference, how can you insert yourself in that process? Are there some warning signs that we can come up with? That or would allow you to have a conversation. Sure. It's a really difficult conversation to have a very few people want to face the reality about themselves that they may have a problem whether it is natural AD or something more serious like dementia. I think a good thing to do is to sit down with it when you've seen a sign of something say, hey Hey mom or dad. I noticed a few things that they're concerning me. Have you been to a doctor? And if not, gee, I'd like to go to the doctor with you, just to make sure that everything's okay. Let's say you've got bad luck. You've got the diagnosis. What's next to prepare your family financially? I say one of the most critical things to do early on is to get that legal paper work in place before the person who has dementia no longer has the Legal capacity to turn over management of their financial affairs. And the critical documents to have are one a durable power of attorney. That allows you to make financial decisions on the behalf of the person Who has dementia. Of course, you wanna choice someone that you trust and could handle those financial affairs. The other critical document is a health care proxy or a health care directive that allows someone on the behalf of the person who cannot make decisions to help them make heath care decisions on their behalf. Donna Rosato, thank you so much, such important information. Thanks, Jill. 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